Do the time & tune your mind...at a conference

One great way to learn a lot of information and focus on specific issues affecting your investigative business is to attend a conference. Many state associations provide fantastic conferences for their members,  and over the years I've even been lucky enough to have been invited to speak about marketing at several PI conferences, from Florida to Alaska.

But I would suggest to you that if you really want to focus on ways to boost your business in today's high-tech marketing world, you should consider attending an Internet marketing conference.  Oh, there may not be a single other private investigator at such a conference ( a good thing for the PI who does attend), and it's possible that some presentations may be a bit heavy on the geek-speak and be over your head.

Yet, the benefits are many: it forces you to focus specifically on your marketing efforts for a half-day or a day or two; it can give you a chance to catch up to the racetrack that is the Internet; and there are tremendous networking opportunities, as a variety of businessowners can attend these things.

There are conferences all over the country this year.  Here's a couple I found interesting: 

MOZCON, in Seattle this July. Among the topics to be presented are search engine optimization, social media, marketing analytics, content strategy, and a data-driven approach to marketing your brand to your target audience.

The Content Marketing World 2013 conference in September.  The simple truth is that content is king in promoting your business online, and I've written about the Content Marketing Institute in this blog before.  I've heard the founder of this program speak last year, and it all makes a lot of sense.  More and more people are paying attention to what this organization is doing: does it say anything to you that the Platinum Marketing Sponsor for this conference is Linkedin?

One Internet Marketing conference that I have attended three of the last four years is the one presented by The University of Toledo College of Business and Innovation. Their fifth annual conference will be at the University on October 1. It's a half-day program and has always been a virtual sell-out.  Speakers are being finalized right now and the registration will open in about a month.

You can find other Internet marketing conferences listed at http://savvypanda.com/2013-Marketing-Conference-Guide..

The simple truth is that Internet marketing techniques are now a requirement for business success. Keep in mind that these conferences do attract attendees from major companies that have entire marketing departments, and also marketing agencies.  Don't be intimidated. Your business is counting on you.